News by Matt S.
Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Spike Chunsoft announces new JRPG from the Danganronpa crew
Spike Chunsoft used GDC last week to announce a host of new games and localisations that it will be taking on, now that it has established a global publishing operation. Perhaps the most exciting of these is Zanki Zero Last Beginning; a dungeon crawler JRPG from the team behind the Danganronpa series.
So we can be pretty sure that this game will be reliably brilliant. The concept is certainly there; with humanity wiped out to the brink of extinction, and eight beings – each representing one of the seven deadly sins (and one representing original sin), somehow finding their bodies dying and being rejuvenated over and over again.
This one will release on PlayStation 4 and PC. There is no release date information just yet, but we’ll get more soon enough. For now… wow does this trailer look good.
428: Shibuya Scramble is finally getting a localisation
One of the most well regarded visual novels ever made, 428: Shibuya Scramble is finally getting a localisation, courtesy of Spike Chunsoft. The game, which mixes live action cinematics and real actors with its storytelling, promises players a whole lot of tight, effective crime thriller action.
In addition to (apparently) being really well written, the game offers some excellent “gameplay,” which really takes advantage of the videogame format to promote non-linearity. You’ll be able to swap between the stories of various characters at will, and the decisions that you make in one story can have a significant impact on what another character experiences.
This one will be released on PlayStation 4 and PC in Summer (or Winter in Australia)
Speaking of visual novels, how’s about some more Steins;Gate?
Steins;Gate is itself considered to be a masterpiece in the visual novel genre, and Spike Chunsoft has announced that it will be bringing Steins;Gate Elite to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Steins;Gate Elite is the same base game as Steins;Gate, only completely remastered to be a far more impressive presentation. Where the original game featured very standard inanimate art (standard as far as the visual novel genre goes) this remaster fully animates each scene, bringing the game closer to the anime in style and tone.
It might sound odd, but as you can see from the trailer above, it’s an impressive effort indeed that does look like it will help greatly with the immersion into the game. If nothing else it’s an excuse to play Steins;Gate again… and I’m quite up for that.
The sequel to the best tower defence game ever is releasing soon!
PixelJunk Monsters is, easily, the best tower defence game ever released. It offers players the simple wonders of bright, colourful charm and genuine difficulty (without ever being frustrating), and does so with such precision and an eye for detail that it’s impossible to put down.
In addition to promising more of the same excellent action, PixelJunk Monsters 2 will also feature multiplayer for up to four players, and a new behind the back perspective. The original game featured a standard top-down look, which made it easy to see the entire map, but that’s not the ideal perspective for giving players a connection to their avatar. This game features a behind the back perspective, which, while less practical for seeing a battle map (and it does seem optional), it also looks like it’s going to be very immersive indeed.
Thanks to Spike Chunsoft, the long-awaited sequel to the game is doing to land on our PlayStation 4s, Nintendo Switches, and PCs on May 25.
– Matt S.
Editor-in-Chief
Find me on Twitter: @digitallydownld
